Leicester’s fairytale rise from relegation candidates to Premier League title contenders hit a new high on Saturday with a 3-1 win at Manchester City that cemented their hold on first place in the table.
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Leicester travel to another team with title aspirations, Arsenal, next weekend, while Manchester City will seek to bounce back against second-placed Tottenham.
On Friday: Malaga 3 (Juan Anor 9, Atsu 23, Charles 43) bt Getafe 0.
Claudio Ranieri’s team have now won four of their last five league fixtures and Vassell thinks a first top-flight crown is within the Foxes’ grasp.
City goalkeeper Joe Hart had to rush out and save from Jamie Vardy and Danny Drinkwater, but Leicester continued to probe and three minutes into the second half, they doubled their lead.
“We play every match as though it is the last match”. After that, we defended very bad. We don’t leave anything but we want to fight – without pressure.
Nicolas Otamendi went to ground for Leicester’s second, allowing Riyad Mahrez to score, while Martin Demichelis was beaten in the air by Robert Huth for the third.
Acknowledging the spate of injuries to have hit the squad in recent weeks, he added: “I know it’s really hard but now all we can do is be focused on the next games, we have another huge game next week against Spurs so we have a long week now to rest”.
Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero reacts after a missed opportunity during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday Feb. 6, 2016. Conceding a goal from a set piece after two minutes was very important for the game. We played against a very good team.
Huth headed in a corner on the hour to make it 3-0, proving that Leicester, on 53 points from 25 games, have the quality and belief to make a sustained challenge.
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp was not at the match after suffering a suspected bout of appendicitis, and – following a tepid first half – Roberto Firmino put the home side in front on 59 minutes.
Liverpool, with goals from Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana, were 2-0 up when numerous home fans left and they at least missed their side’s capitulation as efforts by Adam Johnson and Jermain Defoe, a minute from time, earned Sunderland a point.
Bottom club Aston Villa beat struggling Norwich 2-0, but remain some eight points adrift of safety.
Crystal Palace halted a run of five successive league losses by drawing at Swansea 1-1.
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Maya Yoshida scored a ninth-minute winner for Southampton, who had Victor Wanyama sent off for scything down Dimitri Payet.
